Not Just How, But Why: Recipes That Teach

[blue_dolphin]

Some interesting cookbook comparisons in this article from Stained Page News.

Not Just How, But Why: Recipes That Teach, Instruction versus education, via recipe.

[blue_dolphin]

Cammie Kim Lin, the author of the article I linked to above, mentions the recent cookbook she wrote with her sister, Leah Su Quiroga, a former head chef at Chez Panisse.  It's titled (Serious) New Cook: Recipes, Tips, and Techniques (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and written with their kids in mind. I read through much of the generous sample available via the “Look Inside” feature and it looks quite good with detailed explanations of ingredients, implements and techniques up front in an “extra credit” section. Those terms are underlined in the recipes so that instructional material can be accessed as needed or skipped over if it’s not. 
Much as I love all the teaching Samin Nosrat put in those first 4 chapters of Salt Fat Acid Heat, I can’t see new cooks slogging through those 200 pages before they get cooking.  And a lot of it only makes sense once you’ve actually done some cooking. The “learning” in this book seems much more accessible. 
Another nice feature: each recipe has 3 variations, the first presented with step by step photos, so new cooks get a chance to repeat and refine skills without having to make the same thing again. 
The organization scheme seems absolutely made for an ebook, but it’s not available yet. Hope they are working on it  

[Anna N]

First, and most importantly, thank you for this link. It is a very interesting analysis of the ways in which cookbooks lie on a spectrum in terms of their approach to presenting recipes. I appreciate both the minimalist style of Ali Slagle and the in-depth approach of Molly Stevens (and just about everything in between). 

I was about to jump on that Molly Stevens book until I saw the price of the Kindle edition! And then I was so disappointed to discover that the author’s own book is not available as an e-book. Damn. 

[AlaMoi]

if one wishes to learn the "why" - Joy of Cooking (at least the older versions...) have extensive 'educational' sections for various topics.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

13 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

if one wishes to learn the "why" - Joy of Cooking (at least the older versions...) have extensive 'educational' sections for various topics.

As a first time cook, I needed to get a meal on the table, after work and commute.    I was absolutely turned off by JoC.   Betty Crocker showed  me how to do this with reliable results.    I'm not at all sure that knowing the scientific why materially improves one's cooking.    Observation and extrapolation possibly work as well.

[Darienne]

I like Shirley Corriher's  Cookwise and Rose Levy Beranbaum's books for that very reason.  

[AlaMoi]

"Observation and extrapolation possibly work as well. "

 

those who do not observe cannot learn, only parrot/copy - and most of that aping effort goes off a rail, or three....

 

CookWise is another good "learning" source - methinks perhaps a bit more technical than JOC.

but whatever- if one never observes "ah, nuts.  not good" and never reads up on the 'science' / ' theory' behind the 'cooking issue' at hand - there's no hope for them. 

 

there are so many  variables to so many methods and so many ingredients . . . no innate understanding of 'what the heck is going on in the pan' will bring nothing but failures and more <bleeped> reactions.

 

anyone who has been around cooking (/any hobby) Forums generally recognizes the new posters who deny any suggestions/solutions may resolve their problem.  rather quite often I simply stuff-my-keyboard as to any reply because it's obvious the poster is not open to thinking or observing.

 

[hotsaucerman]

i just picked up the new book "food iq" by Holzman and Rodbard and i think it does a really, really good job of breaking down a bunch of cooking questions i think most home cooks are curious about. they have a website if you wanna get a sample.

 

i also req lateral cooking by by segnit (premise: learn master recipe, then many pages of how tweaking master recipe leads to other things), that giant techniques book by pepin (giant photos of how to do prep work etc? sign me up), and depending on how science-y we wanna get, mcgee's on food and cooking. modernist cooking at home is also super solid.

 

 

i like that the link mentions salt fat acid heat...i think samin's voice shines through in her writing better than any other cookbook i've ever read and really gets the reader excited to cook. it's my go-to cookbook to gift people.

 

[rgruby]

There’s also the books that go into how to pair flavours.

 

Secret Ingredients by Micheal Roberts

Taste by Sybil Kapoor

Taste + Flavour by Tom Kime

Flavor by Rocco DiSpirito

The Art of Flavor by Daniel Patterson

The flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit

and Samin’s book as mentioned above, and I’m sure many others.

 

I don’t know how many of those are still in print. They just happen to be the ones gathering dust on my bookshelf. 
 

Cheers,

 Geoff 

[rgruby]

Forgot about the Gray Kunz book and a couple others that delve into flavour pairing that are lurking amongst my cookbooks. Will add the others after I get back home.

[rgruby]

Ok, I don’t have much more in the flavour pairing department lurking on my shelves.

The Elements of Taste by Kunz and Kaminsky

A couple books by Dornenburg and Page.

 

There’s also the Ruhlman book Ratio but I don’t think I ever looked at it.

 

 Cheers,

 Geoff 

[Anna N]

Niki Segnit has a new book on the horizon.

The Flavor Thesaurus: More Flavors: Plant-Led Pairings, Recipes, and Ideas for Cooks 

Hardcover – May 23 2023

[ElsieD]

This purchase is @blue_dolphin's fault